New steel handling facility planned in Mobile

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The Alabama State Port Authority (ASPA) has approved a concession agreement with Alabama Steel Terminals (AST) to develop a new $36 million steel coil handling facility at the authority's main docks complex in Mobile. The new rail-, truck- and barge-served facility will be constructed behind ASPA’s Pier D2 berth located on a 40-foot deep channel.
AST is a joint venture between TriState Maritime Services and the Richardson Group of Companies. Alabama Steel Terminals will operate and manage the terminal.
James K. Lyons, director and chief executive of the port authority, said the new facility will complement the port’s existing portfolio of steel terminal facilities and "will not only provide benefits to our existing customers, but will attract new shippers through the port.”
Alabama is home to steel coil producers ThyssenKrupp, Nucor and SSAB, and Mobile is also a gateway for imported steel coil used by automobile manufacturers in the South.
AST will construct a 372,600-square-foot warehouse in two phases.
The new facility will comprise of both covered and open storage areas for steel coil throughput handling. Under Phase I, AST will construct 178,200 square feet of covered bay area equipped with three 50-ton capacity overhead bridge cranes and 168,000 square feet of open storage yard ready to handle an estimated 650,000 tons of steel annually. Phase II will add a 194,400-square-foot bay area equipped with three additional 50-ton capacity overhead bridge cranes.
Iron and steel volumes have been growing at Mobile in recent years, in part, because of the construction of a ThyssenKrupp mill in Calvert that opened in 2010. ASPA said iron/steel tonnage has grown from 1.1 million tons in fiscal year 2010 to nearly 4 million tons in fiscal year 2012. - Chris Dupin